MudQueen22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
I am three months behind writing this, but wanted to report on my first time.
We had originally planned to go to Disney World this week, our Spring Break. However, we found out this past summer that I'm pregnant. A baby changes everything. My OB said no-way-no-how on a Spring Break Disney trip since it would be so close to my due date, but agreed that a Christmas Break trip would be do-able since I was in the second trimester. Essentially, we were crazy and went during one of the busiest times of the year.
There were five of us: My husband, my daughter, my parents, and me. We originally planned to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside, but decided to stay at the Pop Century since a) going in December made it so much more expensive and b) we suspected we would not be able to enjoy the upgraded pools in December. It was the first Disney World trip ever for my mom, dd (age 5), and myself. My dad and husband had been before (although dad had gone before there were resorts).
We liked the Pop Century. We liked that it had it's own dedicated buses to the parks. Our rooms (adjoining) were clean. Each room had a fridge and safe. We felt there was plenty of storage for the things we brought. (We drove two days in a minivan to get there, and had lots of stuff with us.)
We also liked that there was a curtain between the bedroom and the vanity area of the bathroom. This allowed one person to get dressed while another (child) slept.
One must keep in mind when reviewing the Pop Century Resort that it is a value resort. My mother asked, as we pulled into the parking lot, for my dh to call and let them know we were there and ask if someone could bring our luggage to our room. We had to remind her that, in spite of Disney’s hefty price tag, the Pop Century was a more bare-bones, Motel 6-type of establishment. Clean and comfortable, but not luxurious.
I wish that it had two queen beds instead of two doubles, but it was otherwise comfortable. Mousekeeping kept it clean and we had plenty of towels.
We ate a few times in the Pop Century's cafeteria. We all thought the food was good overall, although my mom got the rotisserie chicken once and said that it was dry. Pizzas and hamburgers were all good.
We ate using the Disney Dining Plan that has one table service, one quick service, and one snack per day. We probably won't do this again unless it is either free or for a lowered price. We figured it up and learned that we overspent on it. Also, we tend to be more quick service-type people. We enjoyed the character meals and will do that again, but we will just pay out of pocket for meals next time. Also, we ended up getting lots of snacks to take home since we had snack credits left over.
Here is what we did as far as food:
We brought breakfast foods, juice boxes and water bottles with us. Each night before we went to bed, I set out fruit and granola bars for everyone. In the morning, I put water bottles in our soft-sided cooler with our fruit and granola bars on top. We stopped by the cafeteria on the way to the bus stop to fill up our reusable drink mugs, and dd had her juice box. We ate our fruit and granola bars while either waiting on the bus or waiting for the parks to open (we arrived for rope drop each day).
We scheduled our ADRs as soon as we made reservations, which unfortunately, was less than 180 days out. We didn’t get all that we wanted, but that was our fault for the change of plans. But we still got some character meals, so I was happy with that.
We got to eat at Akershus. We didn’t tell dd that princesses would be there; we let her be surprised, and I’ll never forget the look on her face. She thoroughly enjoyed that. We all got the Swedish meatballs. None of us cared for them, but everything else we had was good. We enjoyed the vegetables, the meat & cheese bar, and the desserts.
One evening we ate at 1900 Park Fare. It was a real treat. Dd enjoyed all the characters, and we found the food to be the best of all the character meals. My mother and I joked that they could have rolled us out of there.
Our other character meal was Cape May breakfast on our departure day. Dd enjoyed the characters, and breakfast was wonderful.
We had two other table service meals that I could have done with or without: Wolfgang Puck’s and Planet Hollywood. Wolfgang Puck’s was good, but not worth two TS credits. We enjoyed the live DJ at Planet Hollywood, but the music was so loud that we couldn’t hear each other.
We ate at a few different locations with our QS credits. The only place I didn’t like was Columbia Harbor House, but that was likely just a matter of personal preference. Dh and dd seemed fine with it. We all liked La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot. We got either the tacos, nachos or quesadillas. It was good.
I enjoyed the Be Our Guest lunch more than any QS. The dining hall was very detailed and beautiful. We walked through all the dining halls, but ate in the main one. My carved turkey sandwich was good. We ordered cupcakes for desert, and I wish I would have ordered more to go for later with our snack credits. Those were the best cupcakes. We got the Master’s cupcake, the lemon meringue, and the strawberry shortcake. They were all good, but Mom and I liked the lemon meringue best, and dh liked the master’s cupcake best. (DD and Dad will eat anything you give them.)
Magic Bands and the MDE app:
Dh, who has been to Disney before during regular fast pass, said he liked MDE overall. He said he didn’t like being limited to three fast passes, but liked that he could rearrange them while standing in line rather than racing to a kiosk. We didn’t have any trouble with our magic bands or the MDE app. Dh and I did agree that we would alert each other to any changes we were making if we did different things (often, since a pregnant person can’t ride everything there). He and I messed each other up once, so communication between family is key. My parents aren’t tech-savvy, so we made their fast passes for them. We were there a few days before my mother figured out that a fast pass was a good thing, but didn’t happen on its own. She was having an elder-tantrum directed at me for getting to the “Tanker Bell” line when there was a 60 minute wait. After dragging her through the fast pass line, I finally convinced her that the system works.
We found our biggest tool for getting to ride/see what we wanted was to get there at rope drop and ride the less popular rides, and use fast passes for the popular ones as the day progressed and ride times got longer. We were never able to get a fast pass for the Anna and Elsa meet and greet, but getting there at rope drop got us in line with a thirty minute wait, and that was worth it to us. (We were able to get a fast pass for 9:00 at night, but a five-year-old has a nuclear meltdown at this time if awakened at 5:30 a.m.)
The ability to change fast pass selections worked well for us. We discovered that my daughter was afraid of rides that were mostly dark, and those were the rides we predicted she would like (Nemo at Epcot, Peter Pan at MK), but preferred meet-and-greets. We liked having the flexibility. The MDE app also let us check wait times to see if a wait was worth it to us.
Rides and Meet-and-Greets:
These are personal preferences for everyone. My dd liked meet-and-greets more than anything. The only thing that bothered me was the twenty-something single men in Ariel’s Grotto, who were obviously there to stare. (I didn’t recall seeing them in the Snow White or Minnie Mouse lines.)
We finally got her on the Ariel ride and she enjoyed it, in spite of it being somewhat dark. There weren’t any rides there that I didn’t like, although I couldn’t ride certain things due to pregnancy. There were many things that I could ride, and I was pleasantly surprised at that.
Things that did/did not work well for us:
We brought our own umbrella stroller with a higher weight limit, and we tied a bright pink bandana to it. It helped us locate it easier in stroller parking. With the parks getting so crowded we had difficulty moving at times (due to the time of year we went), I felt better with dd in a stroller so she wouldn’t get separated from us. Bringing a soft-sided cooler was a good move as well. Yes, iced water is free at QS food locations, but we didn’t want to waste time standing in line. We filled our drink mugs with iced water after eating lunch/getting a snack, then filled up with our own water bottles when lines were long.
Rope drop was a smart move. We had to change our sleep patterns a bit for this, but it worked for helping us maximize our time in the parks. We woke up early each morning, got in the bus lines by 6:10, and were at rope drop by 7:00. One day, we were done in the parks before lunch. One day, we were done by 2:00. Two other days, we were in the parks until 5ish. We went to bed early at night.
We had no time to swim even if the weather had cooperated. I made a mental note of this for future visits. If we choose to do any resort swimming or have a “resort day,” it will need to be scheduled. Bus rides, eating, and park time take up one’s waking hours during park days.
Although our room had a tv, I don’t think we ever turned it on. We did bring kindles and iPads, but were only on them before bed after dd fell asleep. We spent very little time at our resort. We took advice on here and brought a power strip, and that was a MUST.
We brought Disney princess dresses from home, and dh and my mother splurged and each bought her one in the parks. She loved this. She wore a princess dress every day, and I’ll bring princess dresses for her when we go again. I put regular clothes underneath, but she kept her dresses on. We also went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the MK, and she loved that. We would do it again. (We brought our own dress.)
Mom and I brought backpacks. That worked for us. We had wet wipes, wallets, some dried fruit and nuts, medicines, etc., yet it wasn’t burdensome to us. We bought ponchos at Walgreens. Highly necessary.
I really enjoyed my first trip, and I know my dd loved it as well. We’re already trying to decide when we can go again, and how we will roll with a baby in tow.
I would prefer not to go in December again. (Dh & dd said they didn’t mind the crowds.) I would rather go Spring Break if we go again, or maybe Thanksgiving. But I’m glad we went, and I enjoyed it. We all did.
We had originally planned to go to Disney World this week, our Spring Break. However, we found out this past summer that I'm pregnant. A baby changes everything. My OB said no-way-no-how on a Spring Break Disney trip since it would be so close to my due date, but agreed that a Christmas Break trip would be do-able since I was in the second trimester. Essentially, we were crazy and went during one of the busiest times of the year.
There were five of us: My husband, my daughter, my parents, and me. We originally planned to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside, but decided to stay at the Pop Century since a) going in December made it so much more expensive and b) we suspected we would not be able to enjoy the upgraded pools in December. It was the first Disney World trip ever for my mom, dd (age 5), and myself. My dad and husband had been before (although dad had gone before there were resorts).
We liked the Pop Century. We liked that it had it's own dedicated buses to the parks. Our rooms (adjoining) were clean. Each room had a fridge and safe. We felt there was plenty of storage for the things we brought. (We drove two days in a minivan to get there, and had lots of stuff with us.)
We also liked that there was a curtain between the bedroom and the vanity area of the bathroom. This allowed one person to get dressed while another (child) slept.
One must keep in mind when reviewing the Pop Century Resort that it is a value resort. My mother asked, as we pulled into the parking lot, for my dh to call and let them know we were there and ask if someone could bring our luggage to our room. We had to remind her that, in spite of Disney’s hefty price tag, the Pop Century was a more bare-bones, Motel 6-type of establishment. Clean and comfortable, but not luxurious.
I wish that it had two queen beds instead of two doubles, but it was otherwise comfortable. Mousekeeping kept it clean and we had plenty of towels.
We ate a few times in the Pop Century's cafeteria. We all thought the food was good overall, although my mom got the rotisserie chicken once and said that it was dry. Pizzas and hamburgers were all good.
We ate using the Disney Dining Plan that has one table service, one quick service, and one snack per day. We probably won't do this again unless it is either free or for a lowered price. We figured it up and learned that we overspent on it. Also, we tend to be more quick service-type people. We enjoyed the character meals and will do that again, but we will just pay out of pocket for meals next time. Also, we ended up getting lots of snacks to take home since we had snack credits left over.
Here is what we did as far as food:
We brought breakfast foods, juice boxes and water bottles with us. Each night before we went to bed, I set out fruit and granola bars for everyone. In the morning, I put water bottles in our soft-sided cooler with our fruit and granola bars on top. We stopped by the cafeteria on the way to the bus stop to fill up our reusable drink mugs, and dd had her juice box. We ate our fruit and granola bars while either waiting on the bus or waiting for the parks to open (we arrived for rope drop each day).
We scheduled our ADRs as soon as we made reservations, which unfortunately, was less than 180 days out. We didn’t get all that we wanted, but that was our fault for the change of plans. But we still got some character meals, so I was happy with that.
We got to eat at Akershus. We didn’t tell dd that princesses would be there; we let her be surprised, and I’ll never forget the look on her face. She thoroughly enjoyed that. We all got the Swedish meatballs. None of us cared for them, but everything else we had was good. We enjoyed the vegetables, the meat & cheese bar, and the desserts.
One evening we ate at 1900 Park Fare. It was a real treat. Dd enjoyed all the characters, and we found the food to be the best of all the character meals. My mother and I joked that they could have rolled us out of there.
Our other character meal was Cape May breakfast on our departure day. Dd enjoyed the characters, and breakfast was wonderful.
We had two other table service meals that I could have done with or without: Wolfgang Puck’s and Planet Hollywood. Wolfgang Puck’s was good, but not worth two TS credits. We enjoyed the live DJ at Planet Hollywood, but the music was so loud that we couldn’t hear each other.
We ate at a few different locations with our QS credits. The only place I didn’t like was Columbia Harbor House, but that was likely just a matter of personal preference. Dh and dd seemed fine with it. We all liked La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot. We got either the tacos, nachos or quesadillas. It was good.
I enjoyed the Be Our Guest lunch more than any QS. The dining hall was very detailed and beautiful. We walked through all the dining halls, but ate in the main one. My carved turkey sandwich was good. We ordered cupcakes for desert, and I wish I would have ordered more to go for later with our snack credits. Those were the best cupcakes. We got the Master’s cupcake, the lemon meringue, and the strawberry shortcake. They were all good, but Mom and I liked the lemon meringue best, and dh liked the master’s cupcake best. (DD and Dad will eat anything you give them.)
Magic Bands and the MDE app:
Dh, who has been to Disney before during regular fast pass, said he liked MDE overall. He said he didn’t like being limited to three fast passes, but liked that he could rearrange them while standing in line rather than racing to a kiosk. We didn’t have any trouble with our magic bands or the MDE app. Dh and I did agree that we would alert each other to any changes we were making if we did different things (often, since a pregnant person can’t ride everything there). He and I messed each other up once, so communication between family is key. My parents aren’t tech-savvy, so we made their fast passes for them. We were there a few days before my mother figured out that a fast pass was a good thing, but didn’t happen on its own. She was having an elder-tantrum directed at me for getting to the “Tanker Bell” line when there was a 60 minute wait. After dragging her through the fast pass line, I finally convinced her that the system works.
We found our biggest tool for getting to ride/see what we wanted was to get there at rope drop and ride the less popular rides, and use fast passes for the popular ones as the day progressed and ride times got longer. We were never able to get a fast pass for the Anna and Elsa meet and greet, but getting there at rope drop got us in line with a thirty minute wait, and that was worth it to us. (We were able to get a fast pass for 9:00 at night, but a five-year-old has a nuclear meltdown at this time if awakened at 5:30 a.m.)
The ability to change fast pass selections worked well for us. We discovered that my daughter was afraid of rides that were mostly dark, and those were the rides we predicted she would like (Nemo at Epcot, Peter Pan at MK), but preferred meet-and-greets. We liked having the flexibility. The MDE app also let us check wait times to see if a wait was worth it to us.
Rides and Meet-and-Greets:
These are personal preferences for everyone. My dd liked meet-and-greets more than anything. The only thing that bothered me was the twenty-something single men in Ariel’s Grotto, who were obviously there to stare. (I didn’t recall seeing them in the Snow White or Minnie Mouse lines.)
We finally got her on the Ariel ride and she enjoyed it, in spite of it being somewhat dark. There weren’t any rides there that I didn’t like, although I couldn’t ride certain things due to pregnancy. There were many things that I could ride, and I was pleasantly surprised at that.
Things that did/did not work well for us:
We brought our own umbrella stroller with a higher weight limit, and we tied a bright pink bandana to it. It helped us locate it easier in stroller parking. With the parks getting so crowded we had difficulty moving at times (due to the time of year we went), I felt better with dd in a stroller so she wouldn’t get separated from us. Bringing a soft-sided cooler was a good move as well. Yes, iced water is free at QS food locations, but we didn’t want to waste time standing in line. We filled our drink mugs with iced water after eating lunch/getting a snack, then filled up with our own water bottles when lines were long.
Rope drop was a smart move. We had to change our sleep patterns a bit for this, but it worked for helping us maximize our time in the parks. We woke up early each morning, got in the bus lines by 6:10, and were at rope drop by 7:00. One day, we were done in the parks before lunch. One day, we were done by 2:00. Two other days, we were in the parks until 5ish. We went to bed early at night.
We had no time to swim even if the weather had cooperated. I made a mental note of this for future visits. If we choose to do any resort swimming or have a “resort day,” it will need to be scheduled. Bus rides, eating, and park time take up one’s waking hours during park days.
Although our room had a tv, I don’t think we ever turned it on. We did bring kindles and iPads, but were only on them before bed after dd fell asleep. We spent very little time at our resort. We took advice on here and brought a power strip, and that was a MUST.
We brought Disney princess dresses from home, and dh and my mother splurged and each bought her one in the parks. She loved this. She wore a princess dress every day, and I’ll bring princess dresses for her when we go again. I put regular clothes underneath, but she kept her dresses on. We also went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in the MK, and she loved that. We would do it again. (We brought our own dress.)
Mom and I brought backpacks. That worked for us. We had wet wipes, wallets, some dried fruit and nuts, medicines, etc., yet it wasn’t burdensome to us. We bought ponchos at Walgreens. Highly necessary.
I really enjoyed my first trip, and I know my dd loved it as well. We’re already trying to decide when we can go again, and how we will roll with a baby in tow.
I would prefer not to go in December again. (Dh & dd said they didn’t mind the crowds.) I would rather go Spring Break if we go again, or maybe Thanksgiving. But I’m glad we went, and I enjoyed it. We all did.
